The Broadband Investment Index (BIIX) for Germany

The Broadband Investment Index (BIIX) subsumes 21 different indicators of the social, entrepreneurial, political, and infrastructural preconditions for building investments in Germany. We computed the BIIX for 402 rural districts.

Results of the BIIX indicate that the rural districts with the best preconditions for broadband investments are located in the Southern part of Germany. Many rural districts in Northern and Western Germany qualify for good to very good preconditions as well. According to the ranking, many rural districts in the new federal states have relatively weak preconditions for broadband investments. In Berlin, the urban centers of Thuringia and Saxony, and parts of Brandenburg, however, preconditions for broadband investments are still average to good.

Overview Indices

Index

How is it computed?

Data Year

Broadband Index

Number MDF per km2 times population density

2010

Business Tax Index

Business tax per resident

2012

Real Estate Tax Index

Real estate tax per resident

2012

Domain Index

Number of DE-Domains per 100 residents

2012

Tax Index

Wage tax per 100 residents

2007

Construction Index

Construction permissions per 1000 residents

2012

Demography Index

Change in population over the last 5 years in percent

2007-2012

Employment Index

Number of employed divided by number of unemployed people

2013

Patent Index

Patent applications per 1 million residents

2010

Income Index

Number of persons with less than 10.000 € income per year divided by the number of persons with more than 50.000 € income per year

2007

Litter Index

Litter per resident (in kg)

2011

Construction Land Price Index

Average price for a m2 of building land (€)

2012

Population Density index

Population per km2

2012

Youth Unemployment Index

Unemployment rate within the group of 15 the 25 year-olds

2013

Commercial Construction Index

Building permissions in m2 per business

2012

Company Growth Index

Change in the number of companies within the last 5 years in percent

2006-2011

Debt Index

Debt of rural district per resident

2011

Crime Rate Index

Sum of Murder Index, Heist Index, Theft Index, Burglary Index

2010

Education Index

Number of pupils receiving an college degree divided by number of pupils receiving a degree

2012

Freight Traffic Index

Freight traffic in rural district (loading and unloading) per resident

2012

Voter Participation Index

Voter participation in the Bundestag-election

2009

How can the preconditions for broadband investments in rural districts be improved? The study “The impact of broadband on growth and productivity” (www.micus.de/59a_bb-final_en.html), written by e.g. the BIIX-chairman Dr. Martin Fornefeld on behalf of the European Commission, shows that economic growth and production improve when broadband supply enhances.

Would improving Internet Access connectivity also have a positive impact on your rural district in general? The BIIX-Calculator computes the new BIIX rank of your rural district after improving broadband supply in your region. Try it out!